Feels like home
by PrehistoricCat
Summary: The ARC's gone public and with that comes media interest, and fangirls. Fluff with a little touch of angst


**Disclaimer: Characters are not mine, no copyright intended**

**A/N: Inspired by recent events in my life ;) A little bit of fluff for those in need of something to make them smile. One person in particular, she knows who she is.**

**If you enjoy, please take a moment to leave a comment. The muse thrives on the occasional pat on the back**

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"Oh my god! There he is!"

"He's not as tall as he looks on the telly is he?"

Abby rolled her eyes and pulled her new ARC jacket around her, trying desperately to ignore the group of girls just behind the cordon that Becker's men had set up to keep the public a safe distance away from the anomaly. This was beginning to become a regular occurrence and whilst certain members of the team seemed to be enjoying their new found fame, she was increasingly annoyed by it.

It was now almost three months since New Dawn had forced everything out into the open. There'd been considerable panic in the immediate aftermath, fuelled by a number of fanatical and cult groups predicting the end of the world and other nonsense from alien invasion to experimental nuclear weapons. The government decided to make the ARC operation public, and despite Lester's protests the team became common knowledge overnight thanks to an extremely clever PA. They were keen to make sure public concerns about the anomalies were eased, and Matt had found himself thrust into the limelight somewhat reluctantly.

After a while, the press grew bored of Matt's scripted interviews and tried to pursue other members of the team to get an inside scoop. They quickly realised that Becker and his men were not willing to even speak to them, and Abby and Emily became very good at avoiding any reporter or photographer that showed up. Connor, however, hadn't been so lucky. He'd been cornered by a field reporter for Sky News as he was packing away the locking device and a TV camera was pushed in his face.

The report aired on the 6pm news, and by 6.30 the ARC had a new poster boy. Every news agency in the country wanted a piece of the extraordinary genius with the dimpled cheek and charming smile, and by 7pm Abby had to take the phone off the hook so that they'd get some peace.

It was decided that perhaps the press should be given what they wanted in the hope that the interest would die down after a few weeks and they'd be left alone to get on with their work. It had been a huge mistake. Connor became a minor celebrity and there were even fans beginning to follow him around, turning up at every anomaly call.

"He's coming over! Is my make up OK?" One of the girls behind Abby said. Abby glanced up and saw Connor striding over with a smile spread the entire width of his face. Normally Abby would be relieved to see him and welcoming him into her embrace, but today she knew that smile was not for her benefit.

She moved towards him and gave him a look that simply said, "Don't be too long," and then began to make her way over to the ARC's vehicles where the rest of the team were packing away the equipment.

"Connor!" the young brunette called, trying desperately not to faint as he came closer.

"Ladies," Connor grinned. This was a side of his new found fame he'd not expected, but he certainly wasn't complaining. All of his life, he'd been the geek, the odd ball. Girls never gave him a second glance, and the few that actually spoke to him rendered him speechless or reduced him to a quivering wreck.

"You're so brave! Those creatures are so scary!" a blonde said. Connor felt himself blushing as the group pressed a little closer. He glanced briefly over his shoulder at Abby. Her back was to him and she was talking to Matt, but he could tell from the way her shoulders were slumped that she wasn't happy about the situation. He sniffed, then turned his attention back to the girls. It wasn't his fault that the reporters had picked on him, and it wasn't his fault that he'd been made to suck up to the media, so why should he feel guilty about enjoying the attention a little?

"Don't suppose I could get a hug could I, Connor?" It was the brunette that had called him over earlier.

"Of course!" he grinned, leaning closer and wrapping his arms around her. He heard her give a little gasp as she returned his hug and it made his grin even wider, the dimple in his cheek deepening. He could definitely get used to this; hugs were nice, especially hugs from pretty girls with soft bodies and hair that smelt of apples.

As he released her, she moved away and shyly thanked him, stepping aside to let her friend move closer. She too asked for a hug, and Connor obliged. Before he knew it, every girl in the group was stepping forward and wanting a hug from him. He wondered if this how famous actors or popstars felt. There were some real positive sides to this fame lark.

-o-

"Everything OK, Abby?" Matt noticed Abby's glum expression as she slumped herself down on the metal case containing the locking device.

"Yeah."

"Justin Bieber over there seems to be having fun."

Abby sniffed and bent down to fiddle with her shoe lace, anything other than make eye contact with Matt. They'd become close friends whilst Abby had been keeping the truth about his identity a secret and he could read her extremely well. She knew if he looked into her eyes he'd see that everything was far from OK at the moment.

"You're not jealous of the attention he's getting are you?"

"No, of course not. Who am I to begrudge him his 15 minutes of fame, eh? He deserves a little recognition for all of his hard work, and if part of that is having girls throw themselves at him then..." She decided not to continue.

Emily crouched down beside Abby and placed a hand on her shoulder. "It's not jealousy. You're worried about one of those girls grabbing his attention and stealing him away aren't you?"

Abby buried her face in her hands. She was determined that she wasn't going to cry, but Emily had hit the nail on the head and she felt sick. Connor seemed to be enjoying getting hugs from all of those girls far too much, and last week she'd actually seen a girl kiss him. It was only on the cheek, but it had made Abby wonder just how far it would go. She'd heard all sorts of stories about fans sleeping with celebrities and that bothered her. Connor was still relatively naïve about life, and she was afraid he'd be very easily lured into some girl's bed without him realising what was happening until it was too late.

"Connor has more sense than that," Matt said.

"He's right," Emily smiled. "Anyone can see how much Connor loves you, and whilst he made a few bad decisions over Philip Burton, he certainly wouldn't put your relationship at risk again. Perhaps he just needs to be reeled back in and reminded who he belongs to."

"Whatever happened to equality?" Matt teased. He'd spent the last three months reassuring Emily that modern relationships were not like Victorian ones, and she was settling into their relationship and modern living extremely well.

"You know what I mean!"

"Emily you're right," Abby declared, standing up and turning to look over at Connor. "All he needs is a gentle little reminder about who he is supposed to be hugging."

Matt laughed at Abby's expression and threw her his car keys. "Take my car, Emily and I will get a lift back to the ARC with Becker." Abby nodded gratefully and began to stride purposefully over to where Connor was still hugging the growing crowd of girls. She heard Matt mutter, "Wouldn't like to be in Connor's shoes right now," and that made her smile. She liked having a reputation for not putting up with any nonsense because it meant people rarely treated her badly.

As she approached the group, she saw one or two give her a look. It was almost one of disgust and Abby had to bite her tongue and count to ten. Getting angry was not the solution here; remaining calm and stating a few facts was the way to go.

"Abby!" Connor smiled and beckoned for her to come over. "This is Abby, she works for the ARC too. She's the creature expert."

Several pairs of eyes turned to her. It was time to put her plan into action. With a deep breath, Abby curled her arm possessively around Connor's waist and then smiled at the group of girls. "Hi, sorry to break up the party, but my fiancé is needed at the ARC. He still has a job to do."

"Sorry," Connor shrugged. "It's been lovely meeting you all though." The girls reluctantly started to disperse, thanking Connor for his time and the hugs. Abby could almost feel at least a dozen daggers being thrown in her direction. The expression 'if looks could kill' had never felt so true. As soon as most of them had gone, she released her hold on Connor and began to head towards the car.

"We're using Matt's car, he's headed back already with Becker."

"Oh, right." Connor obediently followed her and climbed into the passenger seat as Abby started the engine. She wasted no time and the tyres almost screeched as she pulled away before Connor had even done up his seat belt. She turned right out of the field and onto the main road, focussing on the view in front. "Thought we were going back to the ARC?"

"No, we're done for the day. Matt said we could file our report tomorrow."

"But back there you said..."

"I know what I said, Connor. I'd never have dragged you away if you thought we were just going home."

Connor sat back in his seat, slightly confused. Then it hit him. "Is there some kind of problem, Abby? If you don't want me doing this PR stuff then you only have to say."

"We'll discuss it when we get in. You know I don't like to argue when I'm driving."

"Argue?" Connor sighed and turned to look out of side window. He knew better than to push Abby when she was in one of her moods. He really didn't understand it though. He was simply doing what the Minister had asked him to do; be confident, make everyone believe he knew what he was doing, reassure the public they were working to contain the anomalies and do it with a smile. Abby just had to accept that the nature of their job had changed and public relations was part of what he had to do now.

The awkward silence continued as he followed Abby up the stairs into their flat. He paused only to make sure the door was bolted and locked behind them, then moved into the lounge. Abby was sat on the sofa, perched on the edge and her left knee moving up and down in an agitated way. This was not going to be pleasant, Connor could tell.

"I need a beer, do you want one?" he asked.

"Connor, sit down."

"OK." He sat at the other end of the sofa nervously, bracing himself for whatever Abby was going to throw at him. When she remained silent, he couldn't stand it any longer. "Look, if you want me to back off the media thing, I'll speak to Lester."

"Hug me, Connor."

"Eh?"

"It's not a difficult request. Just hug me."

Taking a deep breath and still half expecting the full force of Abby's temper, he leaned forward and wrapped his arms around her. For a moment, she seemed tense and Connor wondered if he should release her or not. Then she seemed to relax and returned the hug, wrapping her own arms around his body and drawing him closer.

Something began to overwhelm Abby and she realised that Matt had been right – she was jealous, but not of the attention that Connor was getting, far from it. Connor's arms had once been her only refuge during a time when they were stranded millions of years from home. They'd comforted her when she missed home, they'd protected her when she felt afraid and they'd shown how much he really loved her when she thought no-one actually cared. She was jealous that those arms were being shared now, and she was afraid there may not be enough left for her when she needed them.

"Abby?"

She'd let out a gasp, an attempt to choke back the tears she could feel welling inside. She hated feeling like this; she'd never been jealous or possessive before, but then again she'd never had anything or anyone worth the bother before. She felt Connor's fingers tangling in her hair and the warmth of his breath on her skin and the tears fell silently down her cheeks.

"What's this about?" Connor's concerned tone made her heart ache. If she told him how she felt, he'd stop doing all the interviews and little pieces to camera. She couldn't let him do that just because she was feeling insecure, not when he clearly loved what he was doing. She'd seen him grow so much over the last few weeks and get his confidence back after all that had happened with Philip Burton; to take that away now would set him back and send him spiralling into the depression he'd been heading towards before.

"I'm just being silly, it's nothing."

"Nothing you do is ever silly, Abby. Tell me what's bothering you."

Abby sighed. "Just hold me and tell me how it feels."

Connor's arms tightened around her. "It feels like... like this is where I belong. Right here, with you."

"Really?" Abby sat up and felt a small smile creep across her face. Connor nodded and ran his thumb over her cheek to wipe away a stray tear. "And what about when you hug those other girls? Do you feel like that with them?"

"Ah, so that's what this is all about!" He looked at her with an amused expression.

"I told you I was being silly."

Connor put his arms around her again and pulled her against his chest, resting his chin on her head and stroking her back. "When I hold you, it's like nothing else exists. Everything else disappears; the scary stuff, the stressful stuff, the bad stuff... It's just you and I."

"Carry on."

He was absently twirling a lock of Abby's hair around his index finger as he felt Abby shift slightly and let her hand drift slowly down to his waist. "It's like being home, no matter where we are – the ARC, at an anomaly, here in the flat, stranded in the Cretaceous. Home is wherever you are, Abby. It always has been and always will be as long as I can hold you in my arms like this."

"I know what you mean," Abby said softly. "But you didn't answer my question. When you hug those other girls, does it feel the same?"

"There's hugs for friends, and hugs for someone to say 'thanks, I really appreciate your support'... and then there's the special hugs that are just for you, Abby. Totally different."

Abby lifted her head and smiled. "Right answer, Connor."

"Phew! I'm off the hook then am I?"

"Not quite, but you're close." Abby settled back down against Connor's chest and let his arms envelope her. She began to feel all of her worries and insecurities ebb away, just as they'd done when he'd held her like this in the Cretaceous and on that first morning back when they'd stood on the balcony of the apartment Philip Burton had let them use.

Words were not needed for the moment. Abby was content to lay there and just let herself melt into the warmth and comfort that was Connor. Closing her eyes, she understood what he'd meant when he'd said it was like nothing else existed. Those other girls didn't matter.

"I'll talk to Lester in the morning," Connor said softly.

"What about?"

"I'll tell him I don't want to do the TV any more. Perhaps it's time someone else had the attention, a female perhaps."

Abby sat up and glared at him. "There is no way you will get me in front of a camera, and Emily will say no as well."

Connor laughed at Abby's expression and kissed her lips softly. "I was thinking more of Jess. The public know all about the field work, but I bet they'd be even more reassured if they saw how it all gets co-ordinated behind the scenes. I'm pretty certain Lester will go for that."

"You're right," Abby smiled. "And you know what, Connor? We may belong here in each other's arms, but I can think of some place else we belong."

As Abby got to her feet, Connor raised an eyebrow and looked at her questioningly. She held out her hand and he took it, curling his fingers into hers and stood up too. The look on Abby's face told him exactly what she had in mind, and as he followed her into the bedroom he knew he was completely off the hook. For the time being anyway.


End file.
